1. Snap Shots: Assessing Participants’ Pre-Existing Knowledge
This quick warm-up activity helps participants start to think about their current knowledge and questions and provides the facilitator with a quick “snap shot†picture of participants pre-existing knowledge.
2. Find Someone Who
This icebreaker helps build a positive learning environment by helping participants to get to know each other, while starting to introduce some transgender-related concepts.
3. Thinking About Gender Messages
This fun warm-up activity helps participants to think about how and what they learned about gender while they were growing up.
4. Wait… What?! Understanding Transgender Terminology
This foundational activity helps participants to learn the basics of transgender-related terminology through an interactive worksheet and guided discussion, which helps to clarifying common misunderstandings and confusion related to transgender people, experiences and terminologies.
5. Imagining Transgender
This affective activity asks participants to imagine what it would be like to be either a transgender child or a transgender adult, and consider what daily life might be like as a transgender person.
6.  Are You A Boy Or A Girl? Transgender in Childhood
Through use of video clips of transgender children and guided discussion this lesson helps participants to understand the experiences of transgender children and sets a framework for understanding what it means to affirm a transgender child’s identity.
7. Â What Does Non-Binary Mean? Understanding And Supporting People Who Have Non-Binary Gender Identities
Through a brief lecture, video clips, and a brainstorming activity, this lesson provides participants with an intermediate level understanding of the concept of non-binary gender identities, the identities and experiences of people with non-binary identities, and the challenges that people with non-binary identities may face.
8. Myth Or Fact: Stats & Stereotypes
During this lesson, participants will be asked to consider whether common statements made about transgender people are myths or facts, while the facilitator helps to explain and clarify each of these statements based on current research.
9. Coming Out: Always & Again
By considering how they might handle having to come out as transgender in a dozen common situations, participants will gain a better understanding of how often and under what circumstances transgender people have to consider coming out.
10. Thanks For Sharing: Responses To Coming Out
Using quotes from popular media, this lesson provides a framework for understanding the range of responses that transgender people receive when coming out– from outright rejecting to completely affirming – with a focus on cultivating more affirming responses.
11. Everyone’s Gotta Go: The Importance Of Restroom Access
Since restrooms are a frequently cited concern for both transgender people and allies trying to create safer spaces, this lesson explores challenges of restroom access from the perspective of transgender and gender non-conforming people and examines the implications of not having access to safe restrooms. (This lesson is available for download here).
12. A Thousand Cuts: Understanding Anti-Transgender Microaggressions
This powerful activity asks participants to experience what it is like to have your gender questioned or commented on in a range of settings. This empathy building activity is combined with information about microaggressions and how they impact the daily lives of transgender and gender non-conforming people.
13. At The Crux: Intersecting Identities
By guiding participants through an activity that reflects on prejudice from systematic, organizational and individual levels, this lesson underscores understanding intersectionality as a critical component of understanding transgender and gender non-conforming peoples’ experiences of prejudice and discrimination.
14. Check Your Privilege: Understanding & Building Awareness
Using multiple teaching methods to raise awareness and increase skills, this lesson encourages participants to examine cisgender privilege and specific strategies for leveraging cisgender privilege to serve as better allies and advocates for transgender and gender non-conforming people.
15. In Solidarity With: Allies As Agents Of Social Change
Based on the premise that allies have an essential role in contributing to a world that is affirming of transgender and gender non-conforming people, this lesson provides participants with helpful information, strategies and scenarios to practice the essential skills of being better allies.
16. Gender Messages In Children’s Books
Designed for those who have small children or work with them professionally, this lesson helps participants to examine the hidden gender messages in children’s books, and contrasts these with books that are affirming of children who are transgender or gender non-conforming.
17. Kids In The Hall: Transgender Kids In School
Through the use of current research documenting the experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming youth in schools, this lesson increases awareness of the challenges that transgender and gender non-conforming middle and high school students face and explores strategies for creating more affirming schools.
18. Supportive Services: Creating Safe Havens Of Affirmation in Schools
Building on pre-existing skills used to support cisgender students, this lesson uses case studies to help participants explore how they can best support students who are transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming.
19. Residence Life: Working Towards Safe & Affirming Residence Halls
Through the use of vignettes and guided discussion, this lesson helps Resident Assistants and professional Residence Life staff consider the unique needs of transgender college students and strategize about how to create safe and affirming residence halls.
20. Safe And Inclusive Teams: Lessons For Athletics Staff In Higher Ed
Using case examples, this lesson provides an opportunity for Athletics and Recreations professionals to critically examine their current policies and practices, and determine steps for creating athletics programs that are safe and affirming for transgender students.
21. Creating Transgender-Affirming College Health Centers
By conducting a participant led “Health Center Check-up,†this lesson provides participants with the opportunity to compare their current policies and practices with the best practices for providing general and transgender specific affirming student health care.
22. What To Do When The Phone Rings: Welcoming Transgender Clients
Using a guided brainstorm activity, this lesson asks medical and mental health care providers (both direct and indirect staff) to assess their services from a transgender person’s perspective, and then provides specific strategies for implementing policies and practices that are transgender affirming.
23. The View From Here: Accessing Medical Care from A Transgender Perspective
Through use of documentary film, real-life case examples, and guided discussion, participants will explore the challenges of accessing medical care while transgender, particularly as it relates to discrimination and bias in medical settings.
24.  It’s Not Always About Transition
This lesson helps participants to identify best practices for working with transgender people in medical settings, especially transgender people who are seeking routine, preventative and general health care, and provides community-informed strategies for working with transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming patients.
25. Providing Transgender Affirming Therapy: Applying Pre-Existing Clinical Strengths
This lesson helps mental health practitioners and therapists connect their pre-existing professional strengths with transgender affirming best practices by exploring and evaluating culturally competent and affirming approaches to working with clients as they navigate the unique challenges of being transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming.
26. Context Is Everything: The Journey to Accessing Services
Through use of a detailed case example, this lesson provides social service staff—from the reception desk staff to direct service providers– with an increased understanding of the specific barriers that transgender people may have to navigate while seeking supportive services.
27. How Inclusive & Affirming Are We? Inclusion Audit For Service Providers
By leading participants through a guided imagery exploring their physical spaces and their overall organizational values, this lesson encourages participants to view their office or organization through the perspective of a transgender person accessing services, and implement changes to make their space more affirming.
28. Impact & Reflection Circle
This large group closing activity asks participants to consider what they have learned during the training and share how what they have learned has impacted them personally or professionally.
29. Navigating Next Steps
This small group closing activity asks participants to identify, consider, and share the personal or professional action steps that they will implement toward being better allies and advocates for transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.
30. Reflection Sheet
This individual closing activity provides participants with the opportunity to reflect on what they have learned during the training and the related action steps that they will take in their personal or professional lives as a result of this training.
